Taming the Arrogant
by littledorkling
Summary: Marie auditions for an anonymous band, and is excited when she gets the job, and especially when she finds out it's with her favorite band, but will she change her mind when she finds out that one of the boys is the most arrogant, selfish person she's ever met? Or will her presence change him?
1. Chapter 1

Taming the Arrogant

Chapter 1

I woke up the next morning to April pounding on my door. "Marie, if you don't get up now I will drag you out of bed by your hair!" She shouted.

I groaned, rolling over to glance at the clock: five o'clock A.M.

"Marie!" April shouted, having finally shoved my door open. "We only have five hours to get you ready for your audition, so get up and get in the shower!" She yelled, glaring at me.

I flinched. "Do you have to be so loud? I have parents and a little sister whom are currently sleeping!"

She waved the thought away impatiently. "Megan is already up and in your bathroom, gathering everything we need to get you ready." She ignored my glare. "And your parents left without question when I showed up." She laughed, grinning.

A loud crash came from the bathroom; April's head snapped up. "Sorry!" Megan's voice sounded through the cracked door.

April growled, something she tends to do a lot when she's angry. It's actually a feminine growl, if that makes any sense whatsoever.

As April dashed for the bathroom to find out which torture instrument Megan broke and whether or not she could possibly fix it, I ducked my head back under my blanket, closing my eyes and hoping for at least thirty more seconds of sleep before I was forced to undergo horrible experimentation and come out of that bathroom looking like a girlie monster.

I didn't even get to fifteen.

"Marie!" April shouted again, mouth suddenly right next to my ear.

I groaned. "Alright; I'm up!" I reluctantly dragged myself out of my comfortable bed, sent it a grief-ridden goodbye, and sent April one last intimidating glare before she pushed me to the bathroom, where Megan was grinning evilly at me from her too-close-for-any-kind-of-comfort position on my poor sink. I sighed, knowing the torture this morning would be worse than I'd expected.

One short shower later, I was sitting on an uncomfortable chair in the kitchen, longingly staring at the refrigerator while Megan tried to make something of the mess of curls on y head as April watched intently.

I rolled my eyes at the concentrated expression on April's face. "You don't even want to do hair; you want to specialize in make-up, remember, April?" I asked her sarcastically.

"No point in being amazing with a make-up bag if you can't do hair." She muttered back to me, not taking her eyes off Megan's skilled hands for a second.

After Megan had yanked out what I'm sure was most of my hair, and exclaimed "Done!" is when April's questions to Megan finally finished.

"Okay, I'm done. Now what?" Megan asked April, who grinned evilly at her.

"Now we work on her face."

"We?"

"My face?" I asked April incredulously. "Do you have to make it sound so morbid, so sadistic, and vague like that, April? Seriously; you could just say you're going to do make-up next."

April shrugged. "It sounds a lot better to me that way."

"No, actually it sounds threatening and just a little intimidating." I said honestly, becoming genuinely afraid when April pulled out her lacertian-could-ever-possibly-be-considered-normal -make-up-bag.

"Don't complain; it'll be over in no time." She said, stopping the half-hearted complaints already on their way out of my mouth and moving toward me with the bag.

I closed my eyes and slept the entire three hours she was working on my face. I know some girls take awhile to do their make-up, but April's record longest time, ten hours, is outrageous.

I woke to Megan repeatedly hitting my head.

"Megan! I'm awake! Jeez!" I frowned as she grinned and ran away, slamming her bedroom door. April walked into the kitchen afterward.

"Oh, good, you're up. Something Megan is good for, finally." She rolled her eyes.

I glared at her. "You told my sister to repeatedly hit my delicate head until I woke?!

April shrugged. "I told her to do what she had to wake you. And by the looks of it, she did what she was told, which is a first, so I can't be blamed for her use of violence."

My glare didn't falter.

April just rolled her eyes again. "You're not allowed to be mad at me right now. We only have an hour to get you dressed and fed before the audition, and I'm already halfway through picking out your outfit, so if I were you I'd get and get me some food because we're leaving after you're dressed." She clapped twice before pulling me off the uncomfortable chair, which felt pretty good, considering I'd been sitting in it and doing nothing for the past three hours.

I'd been halfway to the refrigerator when April grabbed my arm. "Breakfast time is over."

"But I didn't-"

"Not my problem."

"But-"

"Shut it."

I scowled, shutting up. There's no point in arguing with her when she's determined - she always gets what she wants. No. Matter. What.

Unwillingly, I sat on the comfortable chair in my huge closet, arms crossed, scowl covering my face.

April ignored me, throwing a heap of clothes into my face and skulking through the huge pile of discarded clothes on the floor and throwing some other article of clothing at me.

"Change." She commanded, crossing her arms.

I raised an eyebrow. I had never changed in front of her before in my life and she knows I'm not going to start now, considering the fact that I've known her since we were born.

She pouted. "Oh, come on; please? Just this one time? I change in front of you all the time." She plead, adding, "For me?" when I shook my head and glared at her the third time.

She huffed, before reluctantly agreeing. "Fine. Go change in the bathroom…"

I smiled, not surprised. I always get my way when it comes to changing.

Just a bit later, I was dressed in a soft, white cotton dress that was shorter than I would have liked, my favorite short boots that took a lot of convincing and a whole, dramatic accessory change on April's part, a necklace sporting the eye of Horus, and my silver bracelet that I wear with everything. Megan had pulled my hair up into an intricate braid with more hair pins than I knew she possessed.

I managed to down half a cup of orange juice and wave good-bye to Megan when she yelled 'good luck' to me before April dragged me out the door.

"Wait!" She said, stopping me just before I opened the door to the passenger seat of her car.

"What?" I grumbled, not exactly happy with her at the moment. All she had let me grab before we left was my phone and my guitar, fortunately.

She went over my outfit a few times before smiling at me. "You look awesome, if I do say so myself."

I smiled. "Of course I do."

She grinned, opening the door and pulling off once I'd sat down.

"Good luck!" April called after me as I walked up to the door of the huge building.

"Thanks." I smiled at her, before following the lady that was to lead me to wherever I was supposed to be going as she pulled off.

"Here you are." The lady smiled kindly at me while gesturing to a door.

I smiled back at her, taking a deep breath after she'd walked away. I placed my hand on the doorknob, before hesitating and running over the song notes in my head with my eyes closed for the millionth time this morning to make sure I remembered it correctly, while nervously thumbing my guitar strap.

Finished going through the song in my head perfectly, I opened my eyes, spun the doorknob, and opened the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Taming the Arrogant

Chapter 2

It only took me a bit longer to get ready today than normal, but that can't exactly be blamed on me. I've been nervous and worried the whole morning, and only the thought that Max was probably suffering endless questions from my dad while waiting for me, most likely impatiently, fueled my determination to get ready at all.

I took a forcibly short, heated shower to try and calm my nerves - it didn't work all too well. Not really caring too much about the clothes I wore, as Max never seemed to mind much, but wanting to look at least presentable, I grabbed my favorite soft, baby blue dress and slipped it over my head. My hair only took about fifteen minutes to straighten and I didn't do much to it, deciding it looked fine as it was.

I came out of my room and into the living room, smiling at Max, who looked like he was going insane. He jumped up when he saw me. "Marie!" He said, smiling. "Can we go?" He added, glaring at my dad out of the side of his head pointedly.

I giggled slightly, before grabbing my phone and giving my dad a hug. "Bye, Dad!"

He grunted in response, causing me to roll my eyes, before turning and following Max, who was already out the door and opening the doors to his car. I slid in beside him, smiling amusedly at his relieved sigh and closed eyes. "You know, my dad is really not all that bad. You should know that; you've known him since you were born."

He glanced at me disbelievingly. "You know your dad hasn't liked me since we started dating."

I just shrugged. "You should probably try to do the same things you used to do with him before. You know, when you'd all come over on Sundays and you and your dad would actually watch TV with him? Remember that?"

Max shivered. "I could never do that; he'd just bombard me with questions as he always does. You'd think he'd have run out of questions to ask me by now." He said as he turned the key in the ignition and started the car.

I rolled my eyes. "I think you and I both know that doesn't happen. That man always has a million questions for each person."

Max shrugged and brushed off the conversation. "That aside, where do you want to go first?" He asked, smiling at me.

I scowled, my worried mood coming back to me in a hurry. All the things that could go wrong ran through my head without difficulty and without shame. I messed up, I was never good enough, they laughed at me, I messed up, I messed up, I messed up.

Max sighed. "Marie! You did perfect at the audition and they'd be stupid not to choose you. I'm positive you did better than anyone else auditioning."

"But, Max, you weren't even there! You wouldn't know if I had messed up or not!" I protested.

Max sighed and looked down. "I know I wasn't there; I wanted to be, but April said I would just distract you, and I knew you needed your focus."

I bit my lip and sighed softly, closing my eyes. After a few moments of silence, Max finally spoke. "How about we check out a few bookstores, have lunch, and you can spend the next half of the day with April, okay?"

I nodded and looked to the window as Max pulled out of the driveway. I was happy to be spending the day with my boyfriend and later my closest friend, but it really couldn't help my being worried and a bit depressed over my performance at the audition.

"So, are you going to give me the silent treatment for the rest of the ride?"

I shrugged. Maybe.

Max frowned. "But I'll be bored!" He whined.

I rolled my eyes.

He stopped in front of a nameless bookstore, and I went to open the door, but his hand covered mine. "Marie…" He whined.

I crossed my arms and looked at him, pressing my mouth into a thin line.

He smirked at me. "You're not mad at me."

I opened my mouth to respond, but snapped it closed and narrowed my eyes at him when his smirk grew wider.

He raised his eyebrows. "We're not going inside until you talk to me."

I shook my head and reached for the door handle; too late, right after I heard the loud snap when Max locked the door.

I scowled at him; his smirk just grew wider.

I crossed my arms.

Max just shook his head and leaned back in his seat. "It's your choice, Marie. We'll either be sitting here all day until April comes to get you, or you can talk, and we can go into this bookstore and to lunch."

I frowned; he closed his eyes and relaxed into his chair.

Smiling sneakily, I reached over and went to unlock the door-

Max's eyes popped open and his hand shot out to catch mine.

I scowled again; he smirked.

I bit my lip and sat back in my seat, thinking for a while before getting an idea.

With a smirk, I leaned over and kissed him.

He reacted immediately, arms going around me, and he kissed me back. I reached over, unlocked the door, and jumped out easily, leaving Max in the front seat.

It took him a moment to reorient himself, but after he had, he immediately jumped out of the car, just barely grabbing the keys before he slammed the door shut and locked it.

"Marie!" He shouted; I ignored him, already halfway through the parking lot to the door of the bookstore.

Suddenly, Max grabbed my arm. "What?" I finally snapped at him.

He grinned. "I got you to talk."

I raised an eyebrow.

He looked angry again. "And you cheated!"

I shrugged. "Since when do I not cheat, Max? You act like you don't know me sometimes."

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

I shook my head. "Bookstore." I said, nodding toward it; Max, still slightly confused, nodded and followed me inside.


	3. Chapter 3

Taming the Arrogant

Chapter 3

After we left the bookstore, where Max's deepest fears came true as he had to buy me at least five books, we pulled up at a random food court... though I didn't notice, as I was reading the whole way there.

"Marie."

"Hm." I responded, without looking up from my book.

"Marie." Max said again, losing patience.

"What?" I looked up from my book.

"Are you hungry or not?"

I shrugged and looked back to my book, continuing to read.

My well-placed attempt at finishing the twelfth chapter in my new book was cut brutally short when my book went flying out of my hands. Or, at least, that's what I saw. Apparently, that's not what happened.

"Max, give me back my book."

"No." He replied, determined.

"Why not?" I pouted.

"Because I'm hungry," He cut me off when I started to protest, "and I don't care whether or not you'll admit it, but I know you're hungry, too, since you just hardly ate any breakfast this morning. Get out of the car right now so we can eat."

I frowned, crossing my arms. "You can't talk to me like that."

"Yes, I can."

"No, you can't."

"What happened to freedom of speech?"

"What happened to being a nice boyfriend?" I retorted.

He glared at me. "I would be a horrible boyfriend if I let you stay in my car and read while I go into a food court and eat while I had eaten more than you had for breakfast."

"But I'm not hungry, Max."

"You will be when you see all the food." His voice softened. "Marie, you have to eat. You didn't eat yesterday, and you've hardly eaten today. You've got to be hungry."

"My stomach isn't growling." I pointed out stubbornly.

"Marie." Max said warningly.

Lips pursed and eyebrows furrowed, I stared at him for a long moment, noticing the set line of his lips and eyebrows, the worried glint in his eyes, and sighed. "Fine..." I grumbled, drawing out the 'i' for longer than necessary.

Max grinned at me, hiding my book when I sneakily reached back for it, and jumped out of the car, going around to open my door.

"So, what are you thinking about wearing when you meet the band?"

I rolled my eyes. "Marie, I don't even know if I got the job yet."

"But we both know you will, obviously. Have you heard yourself play?" April said matter-of-factly.

"Of course I've heard myself play, April. I just don't think I did too well at the audition." I replied.

April stared at me, shocked. "Of course you did well, Marie! You've never once messed up in any practices I've attended, and all the others, when Max was there instead of me, Max has told me you've done wonderful!" I snorted. Max's opinion is fairly biased. "You've been an amazing guitarist from the moment you picked up the instrument." April went on, unfazed. "If you're not picked for the job, they don't deserve to have you as their guitar player."

I felt a small, grateful smile grow on my lips. "Thanks, April."

She grinned back at me. "Yeah, yeah; no problem." She went back to browsing through the dress section. "Oh, hey; what about this one?" She pulled out a green dress, long enough to be considered appropriate, but not so long that it'd be considered ugly, with small white stitching at the top, and transparent straping. I reached out to touch it, smiling when the soft, silky material ran through my hands.

"Do you like it?" April asked, seeing the look on my face.

"Of course!" I responded eagerly, before glancing at the price tag and frowning. "There is absolutely no way I can afford that. Moving on..." I began to search through the other dresses.

"Oh, come on; you know I'd never take you dress shopping and make you pay for your own things. Let's see how it looks on you and I'll use my mom's credit card."

"And what are you gonna tell your mom when she asks why you spent $170 while you were out today?"

April shrugged. "Emergence? I don't know - I'll figure that out when the time comes." She grabbed my arm and pulled me along to the fitting rooms, shoving the dress in my hands and making herself comfortable on one of the seats outside the doors.

I stared at her incredulously for a moment. She looked back at me, undettered. "Well? Go on."

I sighed, giving up, and closed the door to the fitting room across from April's chair, with one last longing look at the fresh air outside the store.

Sliding off the dress I had chosen that morning, I looked at the green one dubiously, hoping April had chosen the right size. Surprisingly, I was able to pull it on without trouble; it fit wonderfully, so I suppose it was the right size. I shouldn't doubt April when it comes to picking out clothes. I took a deep breath, before turning in front of the mirror and opening my closed eyes to slits to see what the dress looked like on me. Bemused, I opened my eyes wide and stared at my reflection in the mirror. The dress really did fit me perfectly, hugging my skin in most places, just tight enough that it fits, but not tight enough to make me look fatter than I actually am. The nice green silk flowed perfectly without any warning of a stop before it did, just above my knees. I closed my eyes again with a smile, relishing the feeling of the silk on my legs, before I opened the door and stepped out cautiously, in front of April, who was typing something in on her phone, but jumped up when I opened the fitting room door.

April's jaw dropped. "What?" I asked, nervously looking down at myself.

She shoved me back into the fitting room, saying nothing more than a brief, "Take it off!" and snatched her phone back up, dialing in someone's number.

Confused, I did as she asked, taking the green dress off slightly reluctantly and sliding back into my original dress. I didn't think for a second that April didn't like the dress on me, because if she didn't, she'd tell me outright, not shove me back into the fitting room and tell me to take it off.

I came out of the fitting room; April took the green dress from my hands faster than I could blink, and was gone even faster. It took me a while, but when I finally found her, she was standing next to the door of the store, waiting impatiently, and holding a bag with the store's logo on it.

I came up to her and followed her out to her car, knowing not that not speaking until we got home was my best strategy, so that's what I did.

When April and I finally did get back to my house, she ran immediately up to my room, dragging me along behind her, and thrust the bag into my hands. "Put it on!"

I pulled the fabric out of the bag, whcih happened to be the green dress, and frowned before going into my bathroom and putting it on again. I would have said 'no' if April had said she would buy me the dress, or even if she'd asked me if she could buy the dress for me, and she knew that, so she obviously just did it too fast for me to decline. It really sounds like something she would do.

April grabbed my hand and dragged me down the stairs once again after I'd come out of the bathroom with the dress on. Unsurprisingly, my parents, Megan, and Max were all gathered in the living room, waiting for us. Jaws dropped when I walked into the room, but I wasn't thinking straight enough to notice them; April was jumping up and down excitedly like she normally does when she's got great news and can't wait to tell someone.

"April! Calm down! What're you so excited about?!" I questioned, physically holding her down by her arms.

"Well..." She said, still grinning, "while you were in the fitting room, your phone rang, so I decided to answer it and..." April took a deep breath. "This is the dress you'll be wearing when you meet One Direction!"


	4. Chapter 4

Taming the Arrogant

Chapter 4

I woke only half conscious. I could feel all of my limbs, confirming that they were, indeed, still attached to my body, but the fact that I couldn't move them poised an issue.

I could hear multiple voices calling my name frantically, and I tried to move, but my arms an legs didn't seem to want to carry out the action.

Calming myself down before I resorted to full-on panic model I decided waiting was my best option at the point. My decision appeared to be the best one, the feeling gradually returning to each of my limbs with the time that passed.

I waited until it felt like I had been waiting for hours, until the vague feeling that my arms am legs still existed became a sure feeling, until the voices calling my name had stopped a while ago. It was then that I decided to try and move again. I started simple, with my hand.

To my surprise, there was already a gentle pressure on my hand when I tried to make it.

Cautiousness was never one of my strong suits, and now was no different as I opened my eyes without difficulty and sat up, ignoring the insistent spinning in my head.

"Oh, Marie, you're awake!" I heard my mom's relieved voice, joined by April saying the same.

Focusing my eyes on them, I smiled briefly before looking to my left. Sat on the bed next to me, was Max. He smiled at me, squeezing my hand gently.

"So... What happened?" I asked, instinctively looking at April, as I knew she'd have an answer.

"Well... Now I'm afraid to tell you again after that..." She said, looking me up and down cautiously.

"I'm fine." I smiled, my lips cracked and burning slightly." I'm actually just a little dehydrated.

"I'll get you some water." My mom spoke up, getting up from her position on the arm of the couch and moving toward the kitchen.

"Well," April said, excitement possessing her face. "You're going to be playing guitar on your with-"

"Here you are, Marie." My mom returned, interrupting April to hand me a bottle of water.

I smiled at her thankfully. "Thanks, Mom."

"You're welcome, of course." She responded, smiling back at me.

"Anyway," April interrupted pressingly, "You're playing guitar on tour with One Direction!" She squealed excitedly.

I choked on my water, grasping at my stomach and wheezing for breath. Max grabbed the bottle from my hand immediately, pulling me into his arms and rubbing my back comfortingly.

After about almost a minute, I could breathe well enough to respond. "I'm going on tour with One Direction?!" I asked, not sure whether to believe this outstanding, baffling news.

"Would I lie to you?" April asked sarcastically.

I went to respond, but a smile cut through her sarcastic countenance, "Don't answer that, it was a rhetorical question. Yes, you're going on tour with One Direction!" She shrieked in confirmation.

My lips stretched into a wide smile instantly, but, naturally, before I could let myself get too excited, I had to know all the details.

"When do I meet them?" I asked April.

"Tomorrow." She responded, still grinning.

"When does the tour start?"

"The day after tomorrow."

My eyes widened and I pushed myself to my feet. "I need to pack!" I exclaimed. "Mom!"

"What?!" She asked, startled out of her oblivious conversation with my dad.

"Where are my suitcases?!"

"Calm down! They're in the closet just over there..."

Relieved, I followed her pointed finger and opened the closet in the hallway, pulling out my two small suitcases.

Before I could do anything more, April had grabbed my suitcases and my hand and begun to drag me upstairs.

"What all do you think I'll need?" I asked April, who was sitting on the floor of my closet and going through my clothes.

"All of it." she responded.

I raised an eyebrow at her back. "How long is the tour?"

"Six months."

I frowned. "You really think I'd need all my clothes for six months?"

April turned around and stared at me. "You really think you wouldn't?"

I shrugged.

"You have to have a selection, you know." she said, returning to rifling through my clothes.

"Why?"

April stopped and turned around to stare at me again. "You expect to wear the exact same clothes each week?"

I shrugged. "As long as they're clean."

April threw her hands up in frustration. "It really doesn't matter if they're clean or not! Wearing the same clothes each week is just…" She wrinkled her nose unappreciatively and frowned. "… wrong. It's wrong. So wrong."

"Why?"

April rolled her eyes. "I'll just pack for you."

I grinned. "Easy enough."

April ignored me and turned back to my clothes, muttering to herself.

After it had been so long that April was halfway finished packing my clothes and I was lying upside down on chair, partly asleep in boredom, my mom entered the room. "How's the packing going?"

I just shrugged, nodding toward April, who frowned at my mom. "A lot slower since Marie won't help."

I grimaced at my mom's disapproving look. "I tried to help, but she wouldn't listen to me."

April studiously ignored my statement. "I don't even know why she's still in here."

"I have nowhere else to go." I said, annoyed.

"Oh, that's what I came up here for. Max wants you downstairs."

I frowned. "Then why didn't he come up and ask for me himself?"

"Your dad is keeping him… occupied."

That can't be good.


End file.
